Rural Missouri - January 2024 - 38

The beginning of Linda Sutterer's craftsmanship was
decades ago, inspired by her family's creativity. " My grandfather
was an oil painter, and my mom was an artist that
dabbled with glasswork as a hobby, " she says. " When I
moved from New Orleans to St. Louis over 40 years ago,
I started working at a local stained glass shop. I learned
so much from them by helping design new windows and
repairing old ones, many of them ornate Victorian-style. "
Linda also worked with a local glass blower until she
moved to nearby Marthasville and decided to open up her
own home studio, called Glass Compositions.
" At fi rst, we worked out of an upstairs bedroom. Back
then, I'd have customers go
through the house and up
the stairs to pick out glass, "
she says. Linda and her
husband hosted an open
house twice a year, where 70
people would come to shop
and socialize.
From there, they built
an addition to the house
for Glass Compositions. For
20 years now, she has been
offering custom residential
and repair services.
" The heyday for glass
was the '70s through most
of the '80s, " Linda recalls.
" Before then, stained glass
was mostly built for big
church windows only. Then
a grinder was developed and
other tools that the average
person at home could
use. Suddenly, the glasswork
became smaller and
more intricate. " The use of
kilns further broadened the
appeal and availability.
Linda began experimenting with fusing, which is the
process of joining pieces of glass together by melting them
at a high temperature. She enjoys painting glass and loves
working with various colors, shapes and sizes. She designs
a variety of items, from large hanging window panels to
earrings to stepping stones - and her talents with glass
don't end there. " People bring in windows or doors that
are completely in shambles for me to fi x and piece back
together into a fresh design, " she says.
Linda loves teaching the craft to others. " For 18 years,
every Tuesday morning and two nights a week, we did
classes, " she says. " Most of the ladies were nurses, school
teachers and retirees. I'd let them work on whatever they
wanted during class. Someone would be over here fusing
while another would be pouring cement for a steppingstone.
It sounds chaotic, but it worked really well. " One
student attended Linda's classes for more than 14 years.
Stunning glasswork lines the shelves in her study,
alongside tables covered in patterns and tools she has
used since she was in her 20s. A grinder rests next to soldering
supplies. In the corner, there are sheets of colored
glass next to boxes of decorations, plates and dishes.
38 RURAL MISSOURI | JANUARY 2024
The heyday for glass
was the '70s through
most of the '80s.
Before then, stained
glass was mostly
built for big church
windows only.
- Linda Sutterer
There's even broken pieces of saucers and glass she
can't wait to make beautiful again. " I love old stuff and I
enjoy collecting all kinds of unique and unusual items to
incorporate into future pieces, " she says. " I have a whole
area of 'take and bake' stuff, where customers can pick out
small pieces to decorate and have them fused together. "
Once she glues the delicate pieces together, Linda
stacks them on trays inside the kiln - similar to layering
food in a dehydrator. " As it heats up, everything expands
and contracts at the same rate and the individual pieces
bond together, " she explains. " It takes around four hours
to cook and another four hours for the kiln to cool down. "
Linda uses two soldering
techniques, one with
lead and one with copper
foil. " When you're trying to
teach yourself, the soldering
is probably the hardest part
to get right, " she says. " The
copper foil method is the
one to start with and once
you get it, you get it. " She
has shared how-to videos on
Pinterest and Facebook.
" After 2020 hit, I pivoted
away from teaching classes
to selling supplies on Etsy, "
Linda says. She also offers
many items for sale in her
shop and on her website,
including her glass creations,
as well as stained
glass kits, which include
nine pieces of glass and her
go-to instructional book she
used for years in class.
She continues to do a
lot of commissions, usually
residential. She recently
designed and installed 18 windows for the conference room
of a local doctor's building. " I'll often sketch out a few ideas
for the design and have the customer pick one, " she says.
Linda's drawings reveal an artist's eye and proof of
articulate planning. She keeps many of the sketches and
photographs from her projects and classes. It's a good
thing she does. " One time we made front door windows for
a customer and 15 years later, they had a fi re and the fi reman
had to break through their window, " Linda says. " But
we still had the pattern, and we were able to redo it. "
Working with stained glass is an art she is proud to
carry on and she's enthusiastic about sharing the techniques
with others. " Every project is very different; that's
why I'm not bored with it yet. There's just so many ways to
use the glass. "
Marthasville
You can call Linda Sutterer with
Glass Compositions at 314-609-0903.
Browse her Etsy store at
www.lindasutterer.etsy.com or visit
www.glasscompositions.com.
Kaiser is a freelance writer from
Hartville.
http://www.lindasutterer.etsy.com http://www.glasscompositions.com
Rural Missouri - January 2024

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